Total pages in book: 102
Estimated words: 97592 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 488(@200wpm)___ 390(@250wpm)___ 325(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 97592 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 488(@200wpm)___ 390(@250wpm)___ 325(@300wpm)
I still don’t know what to say, but it doesn’t matter because I don’t get any time to ponder it. The automatic doors that lead to the OR slide open, and an older man with a green surgery cap and navy-blue scrubs comes striding out.
“Sammy Baker?” he questions, meeting my eyes as he closes the distance between us.
I jump up and out of Gavin’s embrace. “Yes! That’s me.”
“I’m Dr. McCormick,” he introduces himself, and I stand up to shake his hand. “I just wanted to let you know that Grant did great in surgery.”
“Yeah?” Tears prick my eyes. “Everything went okay?”
“I just finished up, and I’m very happy with the outcome.” He nods and offers a genuine smile. “It ended up being a relatively easy surgery. It was a clean break, and the area where the bone broke the skin was relatively small. I’m confident everything is going to heal up nicely without any issues or infection.”
“Oh my gosh.” Relief floods my chest, and I have to swipe my cheeks to remove a few fresh tears. “I can’t even begin to tell how relieved I am to hear that.”
“I can imagine,” he says and offers a friendly pat to my shoulder. “It’s never easy when it’s your child in the OR.”
“I honestly don’t think it’s something anyone can get used to,” I retort with a sniffle and a shake of my head. “Can I see him now?”
“You’ll be able to see him once he’s all settled in his recovery room. Probably won’t be more than thirty minutes or so.” Dr. McCormick smiles. “And I’ll come by in a little while to give you a more detailed explanation of what we did during surgery and his current plan of care. Sound good?”
I don’t know if it’s relief or guilt or worry or a combination of all three, but the urge to sob right here in this waiting room is damn near overwhelming.
All I can do is force a smile to my lips and nod. “Yes. Thank you.”
As Dr. McCormick heads back through the OR doors, my phone pings in my pocket. I fully expect it to be Brooke, letting me know her ETA, but when I pull it out to check the screen, I find Noah’s name front and center.
Noah: Just wanted to tell you that Grant did awesome. Dr. McCormick should come out to update you if he hasn’t already. And I’m going to stay with Grant until he’s settled in his recovery room and you can come on back.
For some reason, that message urges a few more tears to escape from my lids.
Me: Thank you, Noah. You have no idea how grateful I am that you’re with him right now.
Noah: Wouldn’t want to be anywhere else.
When I look up from the screen, I see Gavin sitting in the waiting room chair, eyeing me affectionately—like he’s right where he wants to be too.
But with Noah and Gavin and Grant in the hospital all swirling in my mind?
Shoot, I’d definitely flee the scene if I could.
“Am I a alligator, Mom?” Grant asks, his groggy eyes meeting mine with widened concern. “I don’t know how to be a alligator!”
“No, buddy, you’re not an alligator.” I grab Grant’s uncasted hand for comfort. “You’re still an adorable boy named Grant,” I reassure, but I also look across my son’s hospital bed to where Noah stands, unsure if I should be amused or worried.
“Good old anesthesia,” Gavin chimes in with a soft chuckle from where he stands with his back against the wall behind me. “It can definitely make you say crazy things. Right, Doc?”
Noah’s jaw flexes. “Right.”
Awkward silence stretches across the room, and I shift on my feet, wishing I could say something that would unzip the extremely strained air. Just some breathing room in the shirt collar, you know? I have no clue if anyone else is feeling it. But my body? It could implode.
“Need my shoes, Mom. Gotta go,” Grant mutters, but his eyes fall closed.
Besides my son’s rambling commentary, it’s mostly just been silence for the past ten minutes that we’ve all been standing in here together. I don’t like to leave bad reviews for things, but if pressed, I’d give the vibe a zero out of five on Yelp.
Noah moves around the bed to my side where he places a hand on my back and leans in to talk directly to me.
“This is all very normal. Over the next hour or so, you’ll probably hear more silly things before he fully comes out of anesthesia. It’s nothing to be concerned about. Just think of it as him dreaming out loud.” He leans in even farther, startling me with how intimately close he is. “As you and I know, our guy spends some time dreaming about alligators.”
Our guy?
Gavin moves in at my other side then, almost aggressively wrapping an arm around my shoulders, even though it means invading Noah’s space as well. “You doing okay, babe?”